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Sometimes I think I’m the only person who could care less about the highly anticipated (by not me) release of Kanye West’s and Jay Z’s collaboration album Watch the Throne this week. But really, I’m not a rap fan, so no one’s surprised. If you think this album was an earth-shattering duo of the two greatest rappers of all time and should win every award in every category- stop reading. I won’t sell you on my ideas and you won’t change my mind either.

To kick of my feelings, I am not a Kanye fan. I think he’s egotistical. Ok, I will dance to “Golddigger” at 10 Below, but that’s about as excited as I can get. He either loves creating drama or has no filter, I can’t decide. Either way, he’s irresponsible and unprofessional. His lyrics, like most rap, is disrespectful of women. Egotistical people kind of tick me off anyways.

Jay Z, I have slightly more respect for because he’s married to Beyonce. I respect that. Also, he’s a pretty successful businessman. His music doesn’t do a whole lot for me, but I appreciate his mildly low profile.

I get it though, I’m not a rap fan. Honestly, I’m not really supposed to be either. I grew up in midwestern suburbs with two parents who love me. My catholic school upbringing has been less than a struggle. Rap music is hard to relate to personally. Some of it I like to dance to, but in terms of speaking to me, my life is a lot more Taylor Swift than Niki Minaj. Some of my similarly-raised friends listen to and love rap, but hey, maybe we’re looking for different things in music.

For the record, I did listen to Watch the Throne before I wrote this. It didn’t change my feelings. Other than one or two songs, which I don’t feel comfortable naming, it was pretty boring for me. Let me remind you again, I’m not in any way qualified to be a rap critic. The NPR critics were not impressed either, and they get paid to do this stuff.

The whole project really speaks to the ego and characters of Jay Z and Kanye (can I call him ‘Ye? Probably not). Watch the Throne? Really? Throne? How modest of you. A lot of the lyrics embody the familiar theme of having lots of cars and women (“my other, other benz”). If I had three cars, I’d sing about it too.

Some might argue both of these performers have worked hard to get where they are. I can’t argue. But it feels selfish and ignorant to talk exclusively of excess.

The song about their future kids is cute. I won’t let me kids in strip cubs either. Does that mean you want your kids to respect women? Will you let them listen to your own music? The idea of Kanye having a kid is terrifying. The idea of Jay Z reproducing is less terrifying because it will have half of Beyonce’s genes. I guess that makes “New Day” my favorite song on the album. Still won’t buy it.

Maybe the egotistical attitude we see in our favorite performers/celebrities is the reason my generation feels so entitled. We don’t deserve anything. Yes, no one has an easy life (I bet Kate Middleton had to turn down tons of Oreos to fit into that tiny wedding dress), but you’re not that special. Everyone has a story and their own problems. Find resources, seek education.

If everyone stepped back and said out loud, “Sometimes I make mistakes. I need to make compromises because it’s not all about what I want” this album would have never happened. Also, this whole debt ceiling might be less dramatic. Disclaimer: sometimes I’m horribly selfish too, we all can work on this.

If our role models are spending excessively and talking down to women, we will too. “Pimping” is something suburban kids say about a picture of one guys with five girls. For some women, pimping is a real problem. Mainstream rap makes these problems lighter. We have to break the cycle if we’re serious about change.

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One Response to “I will not Watch Your Throne.”

Haters gotta hate. This album speaks to my core, like I’ve always said “a hip hop the hippie the hippie
to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat”

I'm Shannon and this is where I blog about a little bit of everything. I read, teach Pilates, craft things, sing loudly and travel. I love the simple things in life, like equality, ending intimate partner violence and karaoke-ing Michael Jackson songs. Read on and leave me a comment.